


Moon River

by Maarkriifaas



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, 2000s, Alternate Universe - Hockey, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Skating, Fluff, Ice Skating, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Past Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-05 16:10:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5381627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maarkriifaas/pseuds/Maarkriifaas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi was a figure skater, and Erwin was a professional hockey player. That is, before he lost his arm and Levi decided to quit.</p><p>Now for the most part they teach kids how to skate and sulk like the old men they've become.</p><p>(For Eruri Secret Santa, gift to tokenstraightcharacter.tumblr.com aka pornographicpenguin on A03)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moon River

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pornographicpenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pornographicpenguin/gifts).



> (PS yes it was I who was that anon asking if you liked winter)  
> (PPS I had this idea a while ago and never found the motivation to finish it, but then Eruri Secret Santa came along and I had motivation to move my lazy-ass and get some stuff done, so thanks lol you helped me finish this idea. ALSO sorry for the all-caps anons btw, that was mostly to be sure you had absolutely no clue who it was- I don't actually talk like that, I swear XD)
> 
> (EDIT: I'm uncertain why but for some reason it's not showing up under my pseud when you go to my page of works. It's a bit weird but yeah)

"Right, that's it." The kid takes two shaky steps forwards, one foot after the other, and nearly falls, but Erwin catches him in his arm. "Careful." He grins and the kid grins right back at him, standing up with a determined expression on his face. He walks forward nervously, but this time remains steady, and tries a few haphazard glides.

"They're kind of depressing, honestly," he hears a sharp voice from the benches, and turns to face the man behind him. "Can't even stand up."

Erwin hugs his arm around his chest, hand resting on the stump of his shoulder. He doesn't recognize the angular features or the cold stare, but they're the only two adults on the ice, so he can't imagine he's here for lessons. "And who are you?" he asks politely, yet leaving plenty of room for warmth in his tone.

The man crosses his arms and huffs. "Does it matter?" he scowls, but still refuses to meet his eyes. He sighs, then, begrudgingly, adds, "Levi. Ackerman. Not that it's your business."

"Oh, so you're the one Mike told me about. I'm Erwin," he says, offering his hand. "He recommended you personally."

"Erwin, as in Smith?" His face pales. "Like, the guy who _runs_ the whole skating-classes thing?"

"Yeah," Erwin says. He enjoys the look of doubt that was steadily ebbing into Levi's sneer a little bit too much.

"I figured you'd run it from an office or something," Levi offers lamely, his ears and nose flushed a deep red. His whole face seems to have  _oops_ written across it in bold letters as  he pulls his tuque a little further over his eyes roughly. 

"My job is to help them get from there," he gestures, "to you. _On_  the ice, not from the sidelines," Erwin smiles, and a puff of air billows from Levi's nostrils, clearly agitated. They're silent a moment, then Erwin clears his throat. "It's ok though. I didn't plan on having you work with the little kids. I figured you'd do best teaching the Power Skating classes instead. There's one right after this."

"Power Skating?" Levi cocks his head lightly to one side, dark bangs falling over his eyes.

"Hockey training. I'll be doing that class myself as well." Erwin explains briefly. Levi snorts, rolling his eyes. 

"Fantastic."

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

There's a few more than a dozen of them, all teenagers, angsty, bickering, spread out over the ice. All of them are dressed in full hockey gear, and Levi's insides are boiling at the sight of it.

"Levi?" Erwin interrupts, and he jumps a couple feet backwards.

"What?" he snarls, a little bit too aggressively.

Erwin doesn't comment on the gruffness of it, instead he turns his attention back towards the kids. "We're starting soon. Come on." Behind his back Levi mimics him talking and forces the corners of his mouth down into a sneer. One of the players starts laughing slightly, and Erwin turns around for a second, barely giving him time to try and look normal again. He shoots the kid a dirty look and leans on the boards, but that only makes him laugh harder.

"Hey guys," Erwin says, reaching behind the bench with his one good arm and pulling out a clipboard. He places it on top of the boards and reaches behind to take out a pen again. A chorus of _hi_ 's and _hey_ 's follow, and Erwin is suddenly smiling like an idiot. Levi scoffs, drawing attention to himself once again.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we have a new helper for today," Erwin says, gesturing to him with the pen. "Want to introduce yourself?"

He does nothing for a moment, then sighs. "I'm Levi."

" _Hi Levi!_ " the whole class chimes, and he looks away. He hates kids. Erwin is still smiling when he waves to get their attention back on him.

"You guys know what to do, go line up behind a cone when I call your name, alright?" he says, and a collective nod passes. "Alright, let's see, is Jon here?" he asks, and a short, stocky kid with hair that sticks out of his helmet stands up. 

"Here," he says, and skates towards the first cone. Levi rolls his eyes again, thinking about how if that kid tried to jump he'd probably crack the ice. He almost reprimands himself for thinking it, but they're  _hockey players_ for christ's sake. 

As it turns out, by the time they're all lined up, Levi has to almost reprimand himself a number of times, and it's only when Erwin skates out to the centre of the ice does he even try to act like he cares.

"Right, so watch closely," he says, "I want you to skate up to the blue line with your arms above your head, nice and easy, and then sit as low as you can to the ice." He demonstrates first, then skates back, spraying the class with snow when he stops. "Nice little warmup. Got it?" The class nods collectively, and Levi groans.

They continue with small little things like that, four or five times across the ice and back, and his job is to make minor corrections as they skate by. _Sit lower. Keep your back straighter. Your knees should be shoulder-width apart. Use your hips when you turn too. Good. Keep going like that._  It's more tiring than he expected, to be honest, and he finds his track jacket becoming too hot.

Finally Erwin turns to face him, fake-yawning. "I'm really blown-out," he says, a grin ebbing at his lips.

"Go to bed earlier," Levi deadpans, looking steadily at the ice off to his side. He refuses to make eye contact.

Erwin will have none of that of course, and he glides to a stop right next to him, leaning in far enough that Levi can feel the breath on his throat. "Hey, you couldn't teach the class for a little bit, could you?" His face is far too close for him to avoid it.

"I-I guess," he breathes, a little bit flustered. He couldn't look away, not without running the risk of bumping his nose or his cheek against Erwin's. He manages to compose himself a little bit and lean backwards though, because honestly this proximity is creeping him out right now.

"Good," he says, retreating backwards to the bench. "Today's lesson was gonna be crossovers," he winks, and leans back against the boards with his one arm.

Levi sighs again, for what feels like far more times than he should have sighed today, and skates to the front of the group. They're staring at him, eyes wide and full of admiration, even though he's done nothing at this point to deserve it.

"Alright," he says, eyes steeled. They were only hockey players after all. "How many of you brats know how to do a crossover?" he asks, and every hand shoots up. Thankfully. He'd be more concerned if someone didn't. "And how many can do a backwards crossover?" he asks again, every hand still in the air. "And how many can do a _backwards_ backwards crossover?" he asks finally, but this time no one raises their hand, no one except a tall, thin boy with dark hair and dark eyes.

"And you are?"

"Henry," the kid says pointedly as though it was obvious. He pouts when he looks at him. If it weren't for his equipment, he might look like a rather unhappy twig, Levi thinks to himself.

"Do you want to show the class then, _Henry?"_ he asks, his voice laced with poison.

"Duh," he says, and he stands up, cocky. Pushing off his left foot he begins to do normal, straightforward crossovers, and Levi watches, amused that he thought that was all he was asking for. The rest of the class must have thought it was pretty amusing too, because they all start laughing until he glares at them. Henry pauses, bows, and straightens with a grin that speaks for itself; this was a joke to him.

"Stop." He turns to face Henry. "Sit back down. That was completely wrong," he says, and for a second he sees the embarrassment, almost humiliation at being called out, flash across his face before he's seated. Levi instead skates forward himself, then pivots on to his back foot and begins crossing his foot behind the leading one instead of in front, left behind right, right behind left. He pivots his hips as well, swaying from side to side as he curves around the outer edge of his blade. By time he's gone in a small circle, the group is speechless and Erwin's eyebrow is raised questioningly. "Now go line up," he instructs, and all the kids listen immediately, some trying to pull off what he did on the way there.

"Levi," he hears, and a large hand lands on his shoulder. "Are you sure that's the best drill to teach them today? Or at all?" Erwin's forehead is furrowed into a concerned expression. "I'm not sure they'll be able to-"

He shakes the hand off quickly, expression cold. "Of course they won't. That's the point of the drill."

"To send them to fail needlessly?" Erwin questions.

"To see how hard they will try to learn what I tell them to, no matter how useless it sounds," he corrects. "Look," he says as he nods to the class. "Even now they're trying. And if somehow they do manage this, normal crossovers will be a breeze by comparison."

"I don't doubt you," Erwin shakes his head. "But somehow I don't think this will work. You don't know hockey, it's not like-"

"Just trust me," he assures him, and skates out, ears tinged pink. _It's not like figure skating_. If there's one thing he hated more than how he said somehow they were different though, that his expertise didn't apply because he didn't need a damn stick to skate, it's the way his voice sounds like he's talking to a misbehaving child.

"Go," he says, standing at the other side of the ice. The first line leaves, and almost all of them trip immediately. The second and third lines follow, and by time everyone has joined him at the other end, everyone is covered in snow from falling down, and Erwin is shaking his head again.

"Now," Levi asks, "what were you all doing wrong?" This time no one puts up their hand, so he takes two large steps backwards himself to demonstrate again.

"It's your initial contact with the ice that's wrong," he states simply, then lifts his foot and slams the toe of the blade into the ice behind him. With only the toe still on the ice, he lifts the other foot to balance on it. "Toe before everything else on the foot. You're trying to put down the flats of your blades first, which if you physically could would ultimately get the most power, but as it is that will only make you fall over. For this you want a toe-heel kind of action,  _land_ on the front and  _push_ with the flat," he says, showing as he leans into the curves, toe, heel, toe, heel. It's almost like he's skating for real again, and nostalgia hits him like a train.

"Line up," he says, slightly off-balance from the sucker punch to his emotions.

The second round goes a bit better, and by the third time across the ice, one or two of them in particular have actually managed to learn the toe-first rule. Now all that they had to learn was how to push with their foot, but he had to focus on getting the whole group to the same level first. At the end of the fourth run though, Erwin steps in, pushing him aside silently when he's about to address them for how to improve further. He feels an indignant curl of rage in his stomach, but he needs the money, so he says nothing.

"I'm very proud of all of you," he begins, and he's using that  _tone_ again. "You did well for such a hard drill. Now, we're going to change it up a little, I want you to skate crossovers,  _quickly_ , around each section of the ice twice. Levi will be glad to help correct you," he says, which couldn't have been further from the truth. He's giving him a death glare when Erwin stares back, but he knows it's the end of that argument.

 

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

"What the fuck old man?" he demands as he bursts into the referee locker room. Erwin knows the owners of the rink, and they let him use it to get dressed and undressed. "Why would you stop them?"

"Because they need something to work on for next week," he says calmly. He unties his skate carefully, loosening each loop agonizingly slowly with his single hand. "They were doing well, and I wanted to work on something else."

"Do you think I don't know what I'm doing?" he spits. "Do you think I'm incompetent?"

"Of course not Levi," Erwin says, eyes almost sad when he glances up at him. "Just hockey is-"

"Hockey is _no fucking different_ from figure skating, Smith. I _know_ what I'm doing," he says, his voice shaking with anger. "So shut _the fuck_ up."

Erwin blinks, completely stunned for a second, and so is Levi for letting his temper control him. He's expecting to be fired when, miraculously, Erwin looks down at the ground again again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." He's surprised at how heartfelt the apology is, but he doesn't allow his expression to soften. A moment later he stands, skates slung over his shoulder. "I'll see you next week then."

"Right," Levi huffs, miffed. "See you."

He still can't look him in the eye.

 

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

"Fuck, no, not like that," he breathes to himself, his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose hard enough to sting. Erwin is halfway through teaching a drill on using both edges of your foot, and exactly two kids are paying attention. Those two are doing well, admittedly, but the others are tripping over their own feet again, and nothing pisses him off more than have to make corrections that could be so easily avoided to begin with.

"No, stop, stop," he orders suddenly. "Just stop. Look," he says, showing him what he's supposed to be doing. He glides on the outer edge until he's turned and almost parallel to the boards before he puts the next foot down, curving the other way. "It's not that hard, just shift your weight from one leg to the other." He's about to show him more detail, but the next line has just left. Now it's just up to the kid do apply what he's said, which he won't, but ultimately it's not his problem. 

He's showing the same thing to the next one in line, and this being the fourth time he's had to demonstrate, he's getting tired of it. Without knowing entirely why, he shouts "Erwin!" and motions for him to come over. Erwin gives him a weird look, but he signals for the class to go drink water and glides towards him anyways.

"What's up?" he says quizzically. He was going for a casual approach, but it comes off as strained, like a parent that's trying too hard to be hip.

Levi shrugs. "No one is listening."

"I know," Erwin sighs. "They just really don't want to co-operate."

"Co-operate?" he almost yells, and Erwin jumps. "You're _supposed_ to be teaching them something! They're not going to lie down on the ice with a sign that says "teach me," for fuck's sake."

"Watch you language," he says weakly, even though he knows he's right. He sighs deeply, as though Levi couldn't possibly understand what he was going to say. "Look, I know you're a good skater and all but maybe you're just not able to understand teaching so well."

Levi opens his mouth then snaps it closed angrily. His voice is eerily calm when he finally speaks. "You know what, just sit down. I'll teach for a little."

"You're crazy," Erwin declares, holding his stump haughtily. Levi almost laughs when he realizes that's his equivalent to crossing his arms. Arm. Whatever. "They won't listen to you either, and you don't know what you're doing."

Levi ignores him and skates towards the group. "Oi, brats," he says, and they look up collectively to stare at him. He can feel Erwin's gaze on his back too, and the combined effect is beginning to make him uncomfortable. "What's the most important thing in hockey?"

A big, roundish blonde kid puts up his hand. He's easily taller than Levi but even so he seems intimidated by the icy glare he gets.

"Well?" he demands.

He swallows nervously before answering, licking his lips once. "If you mean hockey, it's getting to the puck first, right? So you can put it in the net faster too? Just for skating though, it would be balance."

Levi raises an eyebrow, and the kid visibly shrinks, but his stern expression relents ever so slightly a moment later. "You were right the first time. And I assume you're all familiar with how to start quickly, am I correct? You need balance, a certain amount of skill, but most of all you need to be light on your feet, so even then it's a mix of both." The class nods, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Erwin nod too. "Good. Line up. I'll demonstrate the drill in a moment." He skates over to the bag of training equipment and pulls out the beaten old hockey sticks they use as markers, laying three evenly spaced and flat on the ice in front of each line.

"Now, I want you to all start in a v-position with your feet, and when I say go, you take small fast steps in between each stick and sprint to the other end of the ice. The two lines on the right curve down the right side of the boards to come back to your lines, and the left stay on the left," he instructs clearly.

"What about the demonstration?" someone asks, and he turns around, though he's not sure who it was. Grunting in mild response, he motions for one of the players in the lineup closest to him to move over slightly so he can show them.

"Are you watching?" he asks, but the entire class is peering almost timidly at him already. Every other drill he's taught them so far has been exotic and different from the norm, so it's natural they were a little curious. Breathing in, he draws his feet back before pushing off wildly, blades almost losing control on the ice he's going so fast. He's flying, flying, and he almost crashes into the boards before he notices he's skated the length of the ice, his ashis skates grind to a halt.

Breathing heavily, cheeks flushed and alive, he faces the group again. "Go!"

Erwin skates up behind him as the second line is leaving, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I took out my frustration on you. I just.. yeah. I underestimated you."

"It's alright," he coughs, shaking his hand off though because it's really not.

"Can I make it up later?" he asks. "Maybe buy you a drink or a burger or something?"

"No," Levi says, then he looks away guiltily because Erwin does look rather sorry for him. "Well, fine, but after practice and only one. It's not a big deal, really."

"I'd like that," Erwin smiles. "Not only that but as a coworker I'd like to get to know you better."

 _The feeling's not exactly mutual,_ he thinks, but nods anyways.

 

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

The diner down the street from the arena is noisy but the silence between them is deafening. Erwin munches on a cheeseburger, hold the tomatoes, and Levi picks halfheartedly at the fries he'd ordered with his own burger. Desperate for some conversation, he looks at Erwin and comments on the first thing he sees:

"How'd you lose your arm?"

_Shit._

"My arm?" Erwin asks through a mouthful of beef, then looks down as if he'd forgotten it was missing. "Oh, right, that arm. Car accident. Used it as a meatshield."

"Meatshield for what?" he asks, then thinks to himself  _Shit you did it twice._ He's almost banging his head on the counter when Erwin finally swallows to answer properly.

"My girlfriend," he says nonchalantly, as though it were nothing.

"Oh."

"Ex-girlfriend actually, now," he corrects, then shrugs again. "I was driving though, so I kind of deserved it. Dumped me when I couldn't play anymore, but in the end she wasn't hurt."

"You played for a college hockey team or something?" Levi asks, eyebrow raised questioningly. He takes a bite of his own food, trying to look as though he was enjoying it as much as he could.

"Not.. quite?" Erwin answers, giving him a slightly odd look. "I played for the Capitals," he says, and Levi chokes on his burger.

"You played for  _what?"_

"Washington Capitals. Used to when I could still shoot a puck at least," he says slowly. There's no denying it now, Erwin is looking at him like he's stupid or something.

"You're crazy if you think I'd believe that," Levi says bluntly. He's still in shock from the reveal, and he eyes him cautiously. "... _Are_ you serious? Or crazy like I just said?"

"I'm serious," he nods sombrely. "Number 32. Google me later if you want, though I thought you already knew."

"That's insane," Levi says, trying to brush it off, but he's still ridiculously shaken. Why the hell was he running shitty power skating lessons if he probably had millions stored away somewhere? "You've gotta be joking." On the other hand though, his own history isn't too easy to believe either.

"Yeah, well whatever. It's in the past now."

"Guess it is," he agrees, and they go back to silence. A second later though Levi snaps his head up and blurts out, "I mean it's not that crazy though."

Now it's Erwin's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah," he says quickly. "I won the Pair Skating 1994 World Figure Skating Championship, so we're both kind of sitting on weird and or impressive stories I bet."

Erwin frowns at the table and focuses on his burger again. "Get serious. You not hearing about hockey I understand, but I'd definitely hear about it if you'd won the championship. Besides, you're, what, 27 it said on your resumé I think? You'd have been nineteen, or _less_ even."

"I was nineteen, and we won! Well not gold," he corrects, "we won silver. My partner and I, Isabel. I mean. She was only eighteen though, turned eighteen that March, and we were both still in our last year of high school."

"But you were a year older? Did you fail or something?" Erwin points out, and Levi shakes his head.

"I just started later than the others."

"Ah."

Silence again.

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"Your arm."

"Oh, right." Erwin hesitates. "It's not your fault."

Levi shrugs. "Why don't you get a prosthetic?"

He shakes his head. "Too unbalanced, too messy. I prefer having to adjust to this than readjust every time I buy a new arm."

Levi snorts, because it's a little funny sounding when he says it like that. "Are you ever sad it's gone?"

"Not really. I'm just glad it's only an arm and not someone else's life," Erwin admits slowly.

"Yeah, but she dumped you, didn't she?" he points out through a mouthful of fries. He takes another bite of his burger and sips at his drink while Erwin sits, massaging his temples with his hand.

"I don't know. It wouldn't have worked anyways."

Levi nods as though he understands, even though he really doesn't. "Alright." He hands him a ten dollar bill and stands, pushing the chair in behind him. "I'll see you next week?"

Erwin stares at the bill, confused. "Wasn't I supposed to be treating you?"

"You can treat me some other time," he says, waving him away. "I gotta get home. See ya." Levi turns on his heel and walks away, plugging an earbud into each ear and blasting Blue Swede wordlessly.

"Hey, c'mon!" Erwin shouts at his back, " _What kind of treat is it if you pay?_ " but the door's already tinkling closed. 

 

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

"Watch your heel," he instructs. "Nothing annoys me more than when you just use your heel to make a deep cut. Don't do that, use the whole blade. Imagine how impressive it'll be when you can cut a centimetre into the ice. But if you only use the heel, the most you'll get is only a fraction of the power." This week was week eight, and they're doing tight turns and curves today. 

Carl, or whatever the hell his name is, tries to apply what he's suggested, and already he's looking better. Erwin is helping out some other kid on the other side of the ice, and he flashes him a thumbs up when he notices Levi's looking in his direction. Levi waves back and nods, then looks away again.

 

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

"You know I think I've got you figured out," Levi says, leaning on one hand.

"Hm?"

"The only reason you brought me here to begin with was to trap me," he accuses Erwin jokingly, "you're just using this diner to get to know me better."

Erwin smiles at the counter. "Maybe." They lapse back into a silence, but it's stopped being awkward somewhere along the line and turned more into a comfortable silence. Less strained.

"Hey, by the way, this might be a little weird, but do you wanna come over this Saturday for movie night?" Erwin says out of the blue. "Mike's coming, and I think he's even staying the night, so you're welcome to as well."

The words come as a bit of a shock, and Levi has to work hard not to lose his composure. He quirks an eyebrow at him. "Movie night and a sleepover with my boss?" He shrugs, sipping at his drink, his lips cracking into a subtle, rare smile. "Why not? Can I bring friends?"

"You can bring whomever you like," Erwin says.

"You're on, Smith," Levi says, his heart beating wildly, and he puts down the exact change Erwin had tried to prepay for his burger, pushing it towards him and leaving before he could protest. It's the fourth week in a row he's tried to treat him.

 

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

"Levi, you already know Mike, and this is Nile," Erwin says, introducing him as they walk into the room. "Mike, Nile, these are Isabel, Farlan, and Levi."

"Charmed," Mike says, shaking Isabel and Farlan's hands in turn. Instead of shaking Levi's hand though, he grins wide and slaps him on the shoulder, trapping him in a bear hug until Erwin pulls them apart.

"What he said," Nile grunts from the sofa, eyes still fixed on the television. Levi's heard about Nile before, and not much that's particularly nasty, but nothing exactly nice either, so he can only assume that Mike had brought him along. Isabel and Farlan seemed to be comfortable enough with him though, and generally the two of them were apt at picking up on who might cause trouble.

"So," he says, "I forgot to ask before, what movie are we even watching?"

"Well," Mike says, "we were debating between _Back to the Future_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ just before you walked in, but we're still waiting on one, possibly two, more people. Though," he adds in a whisper, "Nile was _very_ bent on watching  _Back to the Future_ and he's in a mood tonight, we were hoping you'd be alright with that."

"I'd personally like _Back to the Future_ ," Isabel says loudly, and Nile's eyes lock on her for a moment before they flash back to the TV.

Farlan grins and ruffles her hair. "I'm with Izzy on this one."

While the two of them are talking, Erwin pokes Levi in the back and nods with his head for him to follow. He leads him by the entrance and another door Levi assumes is a bathroom into the kitchen. He's got some kind of alcohol in his hand, and he looks tired. "Want something to drink?" he offers. "We've got non-alcoholic too if you want."

"I'm good," Levi says, then changes his mind just as suddenly. "Actually, pass me a beer or something light from your fridge." Erwin tosses him the bottle and leans back on the counter, drink resting beside his hand. "So why'd you pull me back here so suddenly?"

"For one thing, I wanted to talk to you, I do enjoy it you know. For another, well, the person we're waiting for, she's a bit.." Erwin pauses, looking for the right word. "Rambunctious?" He waves his hand at him. "I don't think you're the sort of person who'd want to deal with her immediately when she arrives, though she might be bringing someone more-"

" _Erwin!"_ they hear Mike call from the other room. " _Hanji's here!"_

Erwin flinches. "That would be my cue to go say hi." He's about to walk out when he turns around and says "Feel free to look around the house by the way, or just stay here."

"Thanks," Levi says. He watches him walk away, admiring the glossy shine to the back of his neatly combed hair. He can't help but notice the rest of his surroundings though once he's gone, and everything looks so neat and new, gleaming in the yellow-white lights. He must have made a lot of money when he did play, because none of it looks cheap either. He notices a downward-facing picture frame on the side of the counter though, and even if he knows he shouldn't he walks over and takes a closer look.

Standing next to Erwin is a beautiful girl, not that much shorter than him with waist-length brown curly hair. Freckles dot her face and shoulders, and her hazel eyes coupled with the laughter that's frozen on her lips gives her a happy, warm look while she pretend-fights off Erwin as he hugs her to his chest. Erwin has his right arm wrapped around her waist, and his other he uses to hold the side of her head while he kisses her on the cheek. They look picturesque; the perfect couple, and he feels jealousy starting to bubble in his stomach.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she?" a voice asks, and Levi whips around, slamming the picture back down. Erwin stands behind him head hovering right in front of his face

"What are you talking about?" Levi spits defensively. "You said to look around, and I-"

"It's alright," Erwin says, gazing past him at the upside-down frame. "Her name's Marie."

Levi hesitates, then looks sheepishly at the floor. "Sorry."

"It's okay." He reaches over and turns the frame right side up again, holding it so that he's almost not visible in the picture. "She was really something else, you know."

"I guess." Levi has only had one girlfriend, but he's also had two boyfriends, which he decides not to bring up. "I mean I've only been with a few people, and not for long. It's still rough though."

"It's alright," Erwin repeats. "I'm kind of glad she's gone, better than living my life with someone who loved my money more than she loved me."

Levi pauses, considering what he's said. "Honestly, she doesn't look the type."

"Appearances lie." It's a simple statement, lacking emotion. Erwin's lips curl into a forced smile a moment later though, and Levi gets the notion he's used to having to act like this. "The pizza should be here soon too, and Hanji brought a calmer friend you might like. Her name's Petra."

"Define "like"," Levi jokes, and Erwin laughs shortly. 

"She's cute, if you're interested. I didn't have you pinned as the type to chase someone before meeting them though," he says happily, even so there's a hint of disappointment. It's almost as though he's disappointed he would joke about that to begin with, but Levi's never been good at reading people. "Come on."

"People aren't always what you expect," he says as he follows, and again he finds himself staring at Erwin.

  

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

Petra, as it turns out, is a lot calmer, but she's also a lot blander too. While she's clearly compassionate about others, she lacks any sort of real enthusiasm on the topics at hand and generally goes along with what others suggest. Hanji on the other hand is a bit like comparing a candle to a wildfire. Where Petra flickers somewhat weakly, Hanji shoots sparks in all directions, and she and Levi bond quickly over a shared love of Hawaiian pizza. 

"You should be more like Hanji," he instructs Erwin suddenly, leaning back against his chest as he eats. Erwin has an arm wrapped over him protectively, and Mike chuckles.

"He is. That is how they became friends you know," he explains, speaking between bites of pepperoni. "Erwin and Hanji were majoring in English Literature together for three years. She's actually probably the only reason he passed, what with him being so preoccupied with hockey all the time."

"She wrote papers for him or what?"

"More than that," Hanji jokes, and they all laugh as if they've been friends for years. The movie is playing in the background, but no one is really paying attention to Marty McFly anymore.

Erwin rolls his eyes. "I earned that degree I'll have you know, god, what, ten years ago now?"

"Old man," Levi says, patting him on the leg as he stands. "I have to use the bathroom, it's on the way to the kitchen, right?"

"Yeah," Erwin says. "Hurry back, we don't wanna pause for too long, ok?"

"You don't have to pause it, I've seen it a million times you know." Levi brushes the crumbs off the seat of his pants and walks in the direction of the bathroom. As soon as they hear the door close, Erwin coughs a bit nervously.

"Isabel, I hear you skated with him a few years ago, right?" he says a bit awkwardly.

"Yep!" she says. "I bet Lee told you all about my sick moves, right?"

"Not exactly," Erwin laughs nervously, "he's mentioned you before is all."

"I've seen them both skate together, Erwin, it's incredible," Mike interjects. "I mean you're obviously really good, but hockey doesn't even compare."

Isabel's chest puffs up in pride. "We were almost the best in the world too, you know," she exclaims, "silver in the World Championship!"

Nile gazes at her with an odd expression, a mix between curious and unimpressed.  "Why not gold the next year then?"

Isabel deflated like a balloon, far faster than she'd inflated to begin with. It's as though she's a mirror that's just been cracked, and out of the cracks leak all the negative underlying thoughts she hadn't wanted to think about, because her expression changes immediately. She looks as though she's still trying to smile, but eventually she cracks and releases a tiny breath she'd been holding in. "Levi was almost killed."

" _What?_ " everyone but Farlan shouts simultaneously. Farlan is left looking at the floor and weaving his fingers into knots.

"Some punks who'd seen the program on TV decided to beat him senseless after school the week after," she sighs. "It wasn't the first time he'd been beat up by the hockey players, he'd been bullied for ages despite being a devoted member of the team for three years. In grade ten he stopped playing entirely, and they stopped too for a little, but I guess they just couldn't deal with the idea he figure skated. He was in hospital for weeks."

"And what about you?" Nile asks, eyes wide, but Hanji glares at him as if to say  _Haven't you asked enough?_

 "They never touched me. Girls were supposed to figure skate, but some of us got it bad too. Some of the female hockey players got called dykes, a couple of them were, and I heard of at least two cases where things got a little.. out of hand, trying to "correct" them." Isabel shrugs. "We weren't at the best school."

"And I  _suggested_ that he take the power skating job," Mike says to himself horrified. "I mean he needed money, right? So I thought.." he trails off, looking at Isabel and then Farlan, who, though he's been silent the whole time, is nodding slowly at the carpet.

"Oh my god," Hanji says, and as she takes off her glasses to wipe them, just to have something to do, Levi walks back into the room.

"What's going on here?" he demands, and nobody answers. The whole room is tense, except for Isabel whose feet are swaying from side to side as she leans back casually on the couch.

"We were talking about our silver in the World Championships," she says, and it's not quite a lie.

"Why?" he asks bluntly, sitting down next to Erwin again. "Not like it was a big deal."

"Well I dunno." Isabel shrugs. "Remember the song we used? _Moon River_ , the Andy Williams version-"

"I remember," Levi says, and he presses play again. 

  

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

It's 11:30PM, and it's time to leave. Nile had already left an hour ago, claiming he had " _things to do_ ", and Hanji and Petra are packing up now. Mike, as it turns out, is staying the night, but Levi's not too sure he'd be keen on it, especially when Isabel and Farlan left fifteen minutes ago to catch the bus. Levi said he would catch up. Levi didn't know if he was lying or not.

"So?" Erwin asks. "You're free to stay, as I said before."

Levi thinks about it for a minute, then thinks about his friends waiting for him at the bus stop. They'll probably skip the bus to catch the next one with him knowing them. He sucks in a breath, knowing what he should say, but still uncertain, so instead he says "I don't know."

"Ok," Erwin says, and he goes back to picking crumbs off the couch and floor.

"I think I'm going to go," Levi says abruptly, and Erwin nods.

"Ok."

"I mean I'd like to stay but it's just my friends are probably-"

"Levi," Erwin interrupts, "it's ok."

"Ok," Levi says.

"Look, about earlier," Erwin says, combing back his hair with his hand, and  _shit._ "I mean Isabel told me- told us, about what happened to you, and I just want to say I understand if you don't want to hang out with us, or teach hockey players anymore. I can move you to the kids classes."

"What?" Levi asks. "What are you talking about?"

"After the Championship."

"Oh," he deadpans. There's no resistance or defensiveness, just a tiny  _whoosh_ of air. "It's ok."

"Ok."

"Christ, we're like idiot fifteen year olds," Levi sighs, and Erwin starts to laugh nervously.

"Yeah, on that topic, well I was wondering about something, but it should wait a little bit. I'll talk to you about it later then, ok?" Erwin stares at the floor. "I mean I really care about you is all."

His stomach is in his throat at what might be a confession, but he can't hope too much or jump to conclusions. Not right now. "Ok."

"Ok," Erwin grins, and Levi groans again. He shuffles his feet awkwardly. "I'll see you next class then, alright?"

"Ok," Levi says deliberately, and then they both laugh.

  

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

Three weeks later, Erwin is still sitting on both his physical and metaphorical hand(s). He hasn't said a word to him that wasn't work related, and Levi is beginning to see the backwards transition from comfortable to awkward silence. 

"You ok?" he asks finally, and Erwin shrugs.

"I'm ok."

Levi pokes him almost playfully in the arm. "Wanna talk about it, old man?"

"Not with that nickname I don't," Erwin jokes. He pauses, then says, "Are you really sure you're alright with me knowing the truth?"

"You would have known eventually, and besides, I'm past that now. More past it in fact than when we first met, and it's in part due to you," he says nonchalantly. "It's really fine, I even think I may actually like you." he adds, sipping at his watery coffee. It's a half truth because he's been feeling more attached to Erwin for a while now. He doesn't want to think about Marie or his own exes.

"Good," Erwin says. "Because I wanted to officially ask you; would you be available to go out for dinner sometime?"

Levi chokes on his drink and nearly spits it out. "You're joking, right?"

"I'm serious," Erwin says, and it's just the two of them staring at each other for a moment before Levi breaks eye contact. "I want to go out with you. Not as buddies or coworkers. Out."

Levi stares at him a moment then shakes his head, smiling. "You're straight to the point at least," he says. He considers it a moment, then says, "I'm definitely attracted to you..." but he trails off, then laughs. It's only amusing because of how simple it is, how easy Erwin's made it for him. There's no space for misinterpretation, and yet Levi's managed to create it anyways.

"I understand," Erwin says sombrely, and Levi realizes he _has_ misinterpreted him. "It's up to you. Just call me if we're on, ok?"

He gets up to leave, but Levi catches his sweater by the empty arm. "No, no no. I'm not calling you, idiot," he says, and Erwin looks crushed for a moment. "You're free Saturdays, right?"

It takes a moment for him to click, and then he smiles. "Yeah, I'm free Saturdays."

"Alright," Levi says. "So it's done then. Next Saturday, I'll figure out the details and text you then, ok?"

"Ok," Erwin jokes, and Levi forces a scowl back at him.

  

⁜    ⁜    ⁜

 

**Text from : Levi Ackerman**

_I got us tickets  
for saturday and another set izzy wanted me to give you_

**Text from : Erwin Smith**

_What?? tickets where?_

**Text from : Levi Ackerman**

_it's a capitals game_  
they're in town this saturday  
I hope you still have your jersey

**Text from : Erwin Smith**

_....and the others?_

**Text from : Levi Ackerman**

_well  
you know.  
we might be doing a little show again   
later in the year   
nothing public, just for a few people  
who'd mentioned they might be interested  
...  
...  
_ _Don't forget to bring the kids btw_

 

_\- End Text -_


End file.
